Contributed by Sarah of the Neurodiversity and Autism Acceptance group at Skidmore College

Image description: Students at Skidmore College gathered around a table of stim toys and autism acceptance materials.

Our advocacy booth for Autism Acceptance Month was really successful! It was held on April 14th at Skidmore College, and was led by a few different groups, most notably Signmore (the campus' brand new sign language club) and Bystander Intervention (a group dedicated to stopping bullying).

Image description: A cupcake with white frosting and a red infinity symbol in the center.

Image description: A table displaying many types of stim toys including fidgets, a sensory brush,chewables, jewelry and plushies.

Most of the people leading the table were neurodivergent in some way (autistic, ADHD, etc.) or a part of the Deaf community (from the sign language club). We gave out lots of information and people seemed very interested to learn.

The stim toys were a big draw to the table; everyone wanted to play with them! Hopefully, this will lead to people challenging thier msconceptions about autistic people. Thanks to Stimtastic for helping it get off the ground!

Image description:: Close up view of autism acceptance flyers, cupcakes with colorful infinity symbols on white frosting and mini tins of Play-do

I am president of my university’s chapter of an organization called TEAAM (Together Enhancing Autism Awareness in Mississippi). We recently put together “Autistic Community Welcome Packets”, which include:

ASAN’s “Welcome to the Autistic Community” book

an infographic about famous autistic people

“Understanding the Spectrum”, a comic by Rebecca Burgess that explains what it really means when we say that autism is a spectrum

a welcome note from us

a Tangle toy donated by Stimtastic (thank you!)

a sticker

a coloring page

These packets will be donated to a local clinic that does autism assessments, so that autistic people can receive the packets on the day they are diagnosed. I came up with the idea for this project while thinking about how the first messages people receive about autism are often negative ones. I want autistic people and their families to understand the ideas of autism acceptance and neurodiversity from the start. In particular, I want people on the spectrum to know that there are many others like themselves, and that their differences are not something to be ashamed of.

Stimtastic would like to extend a big thank you to Isaac of Autistic Rabbit Weighted Blankets. This past weekend he shared some Stimtastic stim toys at an advocacy booth at his local autism walk.

Isaac's "Ask an Autistic" table

According to Isaac, "We really loved having all the stim toys out because it helped start a conversation about stimming. We really hope that the parents will take to heart what we say and encourage their kids to stim."

Autistic Rabbit Weighted Blankets display

P.S. If you would like to request a stim toy donation for your event or organization or if you would like to share photos of an event that Stimtastic has donated items to, please get in touch.

Part of our mandate at Stimtastic is to give 10% of sales back to the Autistic community. As part of that, we donate to both organizations and individuals. Organizations we’ve given to in the past year include:

Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Library

Dutile Tremblay Community fund

Autism West Midlands

Autism Womens Network

Australian Autistic Community Hubs

Autism Society GLB/SGV

CA ASAN chapter

Cheshire Autism Practical Support Ltd

The biggest individual donation initiative is getting free or subsidized weighted blankets to those who can’t afford them. We’ve given out 30 free or subsidized blankets so far and continue to randomly select recipients.

We also contribute to fundraisers being held by Autistic people (like helping pay for travel to conferences to present), give away stim toys to those who can’t afford them, give away helpful items that are too expensive for most people to afford (noise cancelling headphones, AAC software, iPad), and other forms of direct giving.

Finally, we are proud to have recently made a substantial contribution to ASAN's Autistic Scholars Fellowship program, which provides Autistic college students with tuition scholarships each to create systems change on their college campuses.

Weighted blankets can be a big help for individuals on the autism spectrum, but they can also be prohibitively expensive, especially in adult sizes. Stimtastic has partnered with Isaac Inskeep of Autistic Rabbit to help make weighted blankets more accessible and affordable.

Free and Subsidized Weighted Blankets

As part of our commitment to give back to the autistic community, we're setting up a program to help those who can't afford weighted blankets by fully or partially subsidizing the cost of a small number of blankets each month.

If you (or an individual that you are the parent/guardian of) would benefit from using a weighted blanket but cannot afford to purchase one, we invite you to enter our ongoing weighted blanket giveaway. (See the link for complete details)

Affordable Weighted Blankets Custom Made by an Autistic Adult

If you would like to purchase a weighted blanket at a very affordable price, check out Isaac Inskeep's Etsy shop. His custom handmade blankets are priced at a small amount above the cost of materials and your purchase will support an autistic adult who is trying to make weighted blankets more accessible and affordable to those who need them.

As we wrap up our first month of sales at Stimtastic, I'm pleased to announce that we've already been able to make several contributions to organizations in the autism community including Autism West Midlands, the Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Library and the Dutile Tremblay Community Fund. We also contributed to the fund to help autistic presenters get to TASH, which is taking place this week in Washington DC.

Major initiatives in December include a 2-week fundraiser for Autism Women's Network (Dec. 1st - 14th) and the launch of our weighted blanket giveaway/subsidy program. Look for more details about the weighted blanket program coming soon. (Teaser: blankets made by an autistic adult for autistic adults at low or no cost to the receiver!)

Over the next two weeks (November 17th to 30th), Stimtastic will be donating 10% of all sales to Autism West Midlands, a regional organization in the UK that provides support and resources to autistic people and their families. As part of their Christmas Campaign, 100% of the money donated will go directly to services for autistic children and adults and their families.